Depiction of Beaivi by Ernst Manker. Scanning, cleaning up minor imperfections in the reproduction and removing the numbers was made by Tor Gjerde at old.no; Christopher Forster made the PNG images white background transparent using ImageMagick on GNU/Linux. — Ernst Manker. Scanning, cleaning up minor imperfections in the reproduction and removing the numbers was made by Tor Gjerde at old.no; Christopher Forster made the PNG images white background transparent using ImageMagick on GNU/Linux. · Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons

Beaivi

Sámi · deity · mythic · Recorded classification

Sámi sun deity and mother of life, centre of the noaidi drum; received white-animal sacrifices at midwinter to bring back light and fertility. Secondary attestation.

Domains

sun

Powers

Restore light, fertility and sanity after the polar night
Restores the greening of the land and the fertility of the reindeer herds

Epithets

Beaivi sami · Beaivithe Sun, mother of life and fertility, to whom white reindeer and a sun-ring offering were made at midwinter to restore light and growth to plants, reindeer and humansBäckman & Hultkrantz (eds.). Saami Pre-Christian Religion, 1985 (secondary scholarship); Friis, J. A. Lappisk Mythologi, Christiania, 1871 (primary chronicle)

Sources

existence: Sámi ethnography (Leem 1767; Holmberg-Harva); drum sun-symbol (secondary); Northern Sámi beaivi 'sun, day' (secondary)

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